The keyboard circle: 1976 In 1976, the pianists Rob Franken en Jan Huydts both lived in Soest. They hung out together a lot, and shared their
love for newly developed key instruments. Both of them were Fender Rhodes electric piano pioneers. Rob Franken´s piano virtuosity is to be
recognized on as many as four hundred records. In 1976, he had his own trio and performed with the Dutch funk fusion formation ´Scope´ from
the city of Zwolle. In this band, he met with drummer Henk Zomer, whom he was very impressed with. At the end of 1975, Rob Franken came to
the idea to start a new formation based on the combination of different consonance colors by combining Fender pianos with synthesizers, string
cabinets and other electronic key instruments. Jan Huydts, who was experienced in making experimental music through his formations ´Basic
Train´ and ´Third Eye´, thought this was a good idea. They decided to arrange their key instruments in a circle during their performances and so
the ´The Keyboard Circle´ was born. The two musicians composed their own repertoire out of their own compositions and music covers. For
example, on this record we find the Scopesong ´Tamotua´, Kenny Dorham´s ´Blue Bossa´ and Eddie Henderson´s ´The Kumquat Kids´. They
decided to play the bass lines themselves, one by one, on a bass synth, while the other was playing his solo. The drums of Henk Zomer, clearly
inspired by Jack DeJonetthe and Tony Williams, became the driving force. Soon after a few rehearsals the first performances took place. One of
these first performances is to be found on this CD, recorded on February 8, 1976 in youth centre ´De Trucker´ in Pijnacker, near The Hague. Han
Reiziger, producer for VPRO radio had a craze for special jazz music and was not afraid to show his admiration for Rob Franken´s work. He is the
instigator of this special recording, that for reasons that aren´t clear were never broadcasted. Whilst researching for a radio documentary the
maker ran up agains
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01. Keyboard Circle, The - Protuberans
02. Keyboard Circle, The - Blue bossa
03. Keyboard Circle, The - Zomaar in vieren
04. Keyboard Circle, The - Six seven eight
05. Keyboard Circle, The - Absorbed love
06. Keyboard Circle, The - For Eliane
07. Keyboard Circle, The - Basic train
08. Keyboard Circle, The - Soundcircle / All about us
09. Keyboard Circle, The - Tamotua
10. Keyboard Circle, The - The kumquat kids
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